Arsenal/Liverpool: Offside before Own-Goal?

This blog was created to identify bad commentary by American announcers. But this post is about an announcer of an EPL match. Not my usual target, but here I go anyway.

On August 20th, Arsenal lost to Liverpool 2 to 0. The first goal was an own-goal by Arsenal in the 78th minute. Liverpool's Luis Suarez (#7) was in an offside position when the ball was passed to him by teammate Raul Meireles (#4), but Arsenal's defender Ignasi Miquel (#49) played it first - good defending. The problem for Arsenal occurred immediately afterwards when Miquel attempted to clear the ball but instead the ball bounced off his teammate Aaron Ramsey (#16) and went into the goal. Suarez continued playing since the initial pass to him was intercepted and there was no flag and/or whistle for offside. Also Suarez did not interfere with Miquel when he intercepted the pass. Suarez definitely did not gain an advantage by being in an offside position. So he was not guilty of infringing Law 11, Offside.

In the picture below Meireles (center, in black) just passed the ball to Suarez (lower left, in black). You can see Miquel (lower left, in red & white) clearly playing the ball before it could reach Suarez. At this point, consideration of an offside offence is finished. What follows is normal play.


But during the replays on ESPN immediately following the goal, Ian Darke stated and asked, "He's offside. Isn't he there?" Following the subsequent kickoff, Ian Darke again stated, "Suarez was offside."

Three minutes later during a substitution and more replays of the own-goal by ESPN, Ian Darke continues by saying, "See. His leg is just offside."

These comments do a disservice to the viewers. It is miseducation, which is why I write this blog: to plead with announcers to learn the laws of the game and stop miseducating listeners.

The first problem with this commentary and discussions of offside in general is the dual use of the work offside. It is one thing to be in an "offside position" but it is another thing to commit an "offside offence." Too often the single word offside is used in both cases. The second problem with this commentary comes from the first sentence in Law 11 which states, "It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position." Since Suarez did not commit an offside offence, he was only in an offside position for a while. Again, it is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position. But Mr. Darke talks on and on about Suarez being offside. YES! He was in an offside position, but that's all!

So Mr. Darke, please re-read Law 11 so you can better understand and comment on rapid match situations related to offside.

I must add that Steve McManaman understood the situation. Near the end of the match referring again back to the own-goal, he said, "Suarez was offside but he was not interfering with play, is he?" and then declares, "That is not offside." To clarify, since he used the word offside for two different things, what McManaman said was "Suarez was (in an) offside (position) but he was not interfering with play, is he? That is not (an) offside (offense)."

The "Unofficial Guide to Refereeing NPSL Games" has been updated TWICE, recently

Follow link under NPSL Related Documents. See Revision History within the document for what changed.

For NPSL Referees ...

While this blog is usually about game announcers, this entry is about professional soccer league leadership instead. The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) Director of Officials, David Simmons, wrote a document called the NPSL Referee Procedures Manual in 2003. It contained needed information for referees assigned to work NPSL games. It also contained numerous ambiguities and some redundancies, omitted some important topics, and is not well organized. In fact it is written more like an informal memorandum than a permanent formal document. I repeatedly provide David Simmons with corrections and additions to the manual but very little was changed. Finally I gave up and wrote a replacement for the NPSL Referee Procedures Manual. I named it the “Unofficial Guide to Refereeing NPSL Games” including the term “unofficial” because I wrote it on my own initiative; I was not commissioned by NPSL to write it, although the NPSL Commissioner, Dan Trainor, was aware of my efforts. Regardless, it contains many clarifications of the ambiguities that are in the NPSL Referee Procedures Manual plus additional important information that previously could only be found in the NPSL By-laws –

not conveniently accessible to referees. It is also organized in a more usable manner and adds two appendices on the duties and activities of fourth officials and referee liaisons. The Unofficial Guide to Refereeing NPSL Games is a complete replacement for the NPSL Referee Procedures Manual, except for Addendum B, which lists all of the local NPSL referee assignors across the country (which should be in a separate annual publication and not in a procedures manual).

Follow the links under NPSL Related Documents on the right side of this web page to retrieve a copy of the Unofficial Guide to Refereeing NPSL Games and other NPSL documents. The other documents are standard NPSL documents except the Referee Stat Report, which is an MS Word form that allows one to complete it electronically – not just manually on paper, which is what one must do with the document from NPSL. These documents should be all of the NPSL-specific procedures and forms that you need to prepare for and work NPSL matches. The box score form is not really needed by referees, but is posted here for convenience.

Do trust me. With attention to detail and completeness, I have provided you more of what you need than what David Simmons, NPSL Director of Officials, has provided. Perhaps eventually NPSL will update their documentation, but for now use the documents here.

Who am I? My name is on the front cover of the NPSL Referee Procedures Manual. I wrote

Addendum A of the NPSL Referee Procedures Manual (Appendix A in the Unofficial Guide to Refereeing NPSL Games).

Foul in USA/Chile International Friendly

Well, loyal readers, Mr. John Harkes is at it again. He is miseducating the American public by his own uneducated comments. This time it happened during the US v Chile International Friendly played at the Home Depot Center, Carson, CA, on 1/22/2011 with Adrian Healey and John Harkes as commentators. In the 74th minute of the match, US player #17, Juan Agudelo, was tripped in the Chilean penalty area. During the replay of the foul, Mr. Harkes said, "Did he get a touch of the ball there Adrian? Oh, referee. Hello! Wait a minute."

Mr. Harkes' appeal to the referee was very crass. He should be embarrassed. His comments about the call for the penalty kick reveals his belief in an old misconception by many soccer players who never really learn the rules. One would think that someone in Mr. Harkes’ position, being paid to comment on games covered by ESPN, would have learned the basics of fouls by now. But obviously not. And this is very sad because most listeners assume he does and believes what he says. This is the miseducation.

Many fouls (tripping, kicking, pushing, etc.) are judged to be fouls by the referee if they were committed in a careless or reckless manner or if committed with excessive force. There is no wording in the laws of the game that says, “unless the player touched the ball” nor “unless the player touched the ball before touching the opponent.” So trips, kicks, etc. that occur after touching the ball if done in a careless or reckless manner or with excessive force are still fouls even if the contact happened after touching the ball. So Mr. Harkes’ questioning of whether or not the opponent also touched the ball is completely irrelevant. Sadly listeners now think it is.